March 28, 2014: I love the sights of proms in the morning

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Just had a quick peek at the sun as I arrived at work. I was joined by a couple of PhD students. Lots of nice things going on. On the west limb, a large if fairly low prom could be seen southwards, it looked like a flattish box seen from the side with a long straight projection parallel to the limb pointing northwards. More northwards still a nearly straight prom stood out at right angles to the limb. Northwards on the eastern limb, a large complex prom was visible. It almost looked like the ornate front of a cathedral with mane spires, and bridges or buttresses connecting them, so we promptly named it the "Sagrada Familia". Southwards on the eastern limb, a smaller prom could be seen, and closer inspection showed it was part of a zigzagging filament crossing the limb. This always produces a lovely 3D effect.

In the surface a large AR with two big sunspots was the first detail that could be seen, now quite far to the west of the disk. Through the slightly hazy air, much of the detail on the disk showed somewhat muted contrast, but with proper tuning of the etalon we could pick up several other ARs with filamentous structures around them.

We will see how the Sagrada Familia is doing round lunchtime.